Positive Psychological Changes From Meditation Training Linked To Cellular Healt

[Guest guest]

Positive Psychological Changes From Meditation Training Linked To Cellular

Health

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/206714.php

Positive psychological changes that occur during meditation training are

associated with greater telomerase activity, according to researchers at the

University of California, , and the University of California, San

Francisco. The study is the first to link positive well-being to higher

telomerase, an enzyme important for the long-term health of cells in the body.

The effect appears to be attributable to psychological changes that increase a

person's ability to cope with stress and maintain feelings of well-being.

" We have found that meditation promotes positive psychological changes, and that

meditators showing the greatest improvement on various psychological measures

had the highest levels of telomerase, " said Clifford Saron, associate research

scientist at the UC Center for Mind and Brain.

" The take-home message from this work is not that meditation directly increases

telomerase activity and therefore a person's health and longevity, " Saron said.

" Rather, meditation may improve a person's psychological well-being and in turn

these changes are related to telomerase activity in immune cells, which has the

potential to promote longevity in those cells. Activities that increase a

person's sense of well-being may have a profound effect on the most fundamental

aspects of their physiology. "

The study, with UC postdoctoral scholar Tonya s as lead author, was

published online Oct. 29 in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology and will soon

appear in print. It is a product of the UC -based Shamatha Project, led by

Saron, one of the first long-term, detailed, matched control-group studies of

the effects of intensive meditation training on mind and body.

" This work is among the first to show a relation between positive psychological

change and telomerase activity. Because the finding is new, it should serve to

inspire future studies to replicate and extend what we found, " s said.

Blackburn, professor of biology and physiology at UCSF, is a co-author

of the paper. Blackburn shared the 2009 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine

for discovering telomeres and telomerase. Other co-authors include UCSF

colleagues Elissa Epel, associate professor of psychiatry; assistant research

biochemist Jue Lin; and Owen Wolkowitz, professor of psychiatry.

Telomeres are sequences of DNA at the end of chromosomes that tend to get

shorter every time a cell divides. When telomeres drop below a critical length,

the cell can no longer divide properly and eventually dies.

Telomerase is an enzyme that can rebuild and lengthen telomeres. Other studies

suggest that telomerase activity may be a link between psychological stress and

physical health.

The research team measured telomerase activity in participants in the Shamatha

Project at the end of a three-month intensive meditation retreat.